Chapter 16- Spirit
The past twenty-four hours seemed surreal to Eduardo Delgado.
He sat on the side of the bed, ready to end his night, but his spirit was restless.
The emotions filling his gullet stirred like unspent dollars at his favorite marketplace.
He employed deep breathing techniques to center himself and calm his brain so he could rest through the night.
The week, based on his son's outburst and chosen course of action, would be for a very long five days.
His wife Ryanne came from the bathroom, also prepared for bed.
Seeing her husband seated on the side of the bed in his pajamas staring at the door, she shifted her focus to sit beside him.
The hand cream Ryanne used smelled of mangoes as she slid her slender fingers into his paw of a hand.
The hardened calluses and seldom trimmed cuticles reminded her often of his hard labor tending the land which supported so many mouths.
He never asked for the job but was bred into the position and manned the helm of a family legacy. Tonight, he was lost in his thoughts.
Ryanne used her free hand to run through the dark mass of hair, now littered with grey at the temples and sides, giving him an air of distinction.
She placed a light kiss on the sun-weathered cheek and pulled him close.
As tough as her husband was, she made sure when he needed comfort; she provided it through touch and reassurance in his decision making even though at times she didn’t agree with his tactics.
“Talk to me,” she said softly.
“Don't know where to start,” he replied, leaning into her embrace. “Micah said plainly he was into some nasty and freaky shit. I am really worried about what those things could be.”
“I’m sorry, what?” She said, thinking his mind was elsewhere.
“Freaky shit. Nasty shit. Like what?” Eduardo asked pulling away to stand.
“Micah is a picky eater. He has tons of sensory issues from everything from how things smell, textures, and even sounds. What is left for him to get freaky and nasty with? Ohh! He does like feet. Do you think he is a toe-sucker?”
Ryanne’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t see Micah putting someone’s foot in his mouth.”
“This is very disconcerting to me. I think I shall go and ask what he means by the freaky and nasty...he is not fond of animals,” Eduardo said, reaching for the door handle of their bedroom.
She stopped him. Bringing him back to the bed. “Take a breather. It’s unlike you to worry about such matters.”
“Andres saying he is into some freaky and nasty shit, I would be like, that tracks,” Eduardo said. “But Micah...ear wax creeps him out. What freaky stuff is he doing? I really am wondering and would like to know these things.”
Ryanne pulled her husband into a seated position on the bed. Gently, she began massaging his shoulders. Slowly, he began to relax. Again, she asked him to talk to her, especially after returning home yesterday from having to deal with an employee in the field. He seemed to be off.
She repeated, “Talk to me, Eddie.”
“Yesterday afternoon, I had to deal with a man for thievery, and twenty-four hours later, I had to deal with a young woman stealing my heart.”
“Stealing your heart?”
“Alita. How did she know how to do that, to bring him down, to get him to open up and share all of that?” Eduardo said, pulling away from his wife.
“Not only did she bring him down, but she also ensured we were included in the conversation, and she had him lay out his train of thought. How did she know how to do that?”
“I taught her,” Ryanne said. “Well, not all of that, but how to center him. Years ago, I showed her how to use a piece of hard sour candy to shift his focus, but what we witnessed was something altogether different. Husband, can you explain the ‘stealing your heart’ part?”
“Did you see how Angel was included in that come-down? He practices with them. She called for the Emberá Chocó, and he was ready. She went soaring through the air, it was beautiful.” He stood, his hands in his pockets, a slow pacing ensued.
A deep sigh preceded his next words, “Every parent wants a life partner for their child or children who is there for them, who can be a companion and a helpmate,” he began.
“I like Diadra,” he said to his wife. “She is good for Yunior, but once she saw me handle Tonda, she’s kept a wide berth of me.
My grandchildren, she is always present when I spend time with them as if she doesn't trust me. It hurts, but she is their mother, and I must respect that. In time, perhaps she will come around, but I do not see it.”
“And Andres?”
“That woman Roxana, she has the shifty eyes,” Eduardo said. “His marriage is a benefit to both me and Eleon since Bolivia touches his borders as well as Peru’s, but I don't get the warm and fuzzies from her. She is marrying for power and position.”
“Alita?”
“She loves him for who he is,” Eduardo said. “In everything that was happening at Perona de la Mar, she had the wherewithal to remember to bring Angel the steaks he asked for, and she even brought me the yummy beef sausages Eleon makes for his family and dignitaries.”
“She brought me some lovely rib eyes as well,” Ryanne said, “but I worry; they are so young.”
“I was only twenty years old when I married.”
“Look how that turned out,” Ryanne said, scowling at him.
“We, and I say that collectively from the viewpoint of The Cartel,” he began, “have learned over the years, and we are maturing as men to see the larger picture. Yunior and Irena changed the dynamic, and having Irena on the Board of the Conclave of Vipers has brought a new direction for matching the children. Under her direction, the young women now have a chance to attend Uni if they desire before marriage and learn a skill that can earn them a side income of their own. Some marry early and attend Uni together like Micah and Alita plan to do, but change has arrived.”
“It is a change that worries me for her, Eddie,” she said, using the private name chosen between them.
“She has spent the last four years basically serving as his nursemaid, in no uncertain terms. Now she will spend the next six years alongside him and then bear his children. My heart aches to think she will have to take on the tantrum of little Benicio while her husband is in the other room having one as well.”
“Little Benicio,” Eduardo said, smiling. “He is naming him after me. I like that. I also hear your words, but she is not his nursemaid. Somewhere along the line in their past four years together, I think she became his muse. The numbers she used...what was that Fibonacci sequence?”
“Yes, so random, but it worked. Micah also has your singing voice.”
“I know, right! I've never heard him just sing like that, openly,” he replied. “I learned a lot about him today. He said all the things I never could or never would about Eleon and Anya. Micah drew the line at the boundaries with his grandfather and hung up on the man. I was proud.”
“How will it impact matters going forward?”
“Micah has outflanked him,” Eduardo said. “The treatments he's been working on for crops and poultry feeds, he sent each of the men a test batch to partner with them and their farms. He doesn't need to marry their daughters to form a partnership for Colombia.”
“Does he remind you of yourself?”
“No, he does not; he is something different,” he answered.
“He is the version of me I wish I could be and can't. I must be politically savvy, savage in the face of transgression, and kind for my people.
He will walk into a room, call everyone stupid, and explain in detail why they are, and at the end of his spiel, they will agree that they have been dumb. I can't do that.”
“Is that what he did with the young women he met at the gala?”
“Andres said he told the young woman from Suriname to stop talking to him and he walked away,” Eduardo said with a smile. “The others were just not to his liking, and one he said she smelled weird and he couldn’t go to bed at night next to whatever that scent was.”
Ryanne started laughing. “He has a really dark sense of humor.”
He paced the floor a bit more and stopped in front of her.
“The conversations we've been having over the past six months have given me insight into him.
I've grown to truly respect Alita. She also notices how Micah and I spend our time together, having entire conversations where we say nothing. Never realized anyone noticed that.”
“We all notice it,” Ryanne said. “Eddie, how will we pull this off? They are due at Uni in three weeks. They want a wedding on Thursday? They actually booked the church. How are we going to pull this together in five days?”
“He likes simple, therefore, so is the process,” he told her. “Monday, you take Alita to Medellin to find a dress. I take Micah to Bogotá for the closing and secure the keys to the flat. Tuesday evening, Yunior, Diadra, and the kids are in the air with Andres and Alita’s family.”
“About that...her name should be on the deed as well,” Ryanne said.
“It is, in her maiden name,” Eduardo replied. “I was going to do it anyway, but Micah beat me to it. He said in case they sell it, she will get half of the proceeds.”
“What about the furniture and a vehicle?”
“We'll get them an IKEA gift card,” he said. “Yunior said he'd buy Micah a vehicle. As a wedding gift, I will purchase a little shit box on wheels for her as a wedding present, and it will be at the flat when they return from the honeymoon with a sappy big red bow on it. She'll like that shit.”
“You're buying her a car?”
“Yes, and you're buying her wedding dress to marry our son, plus some furniture for that amazing flat,” Eduardo said. “I will use my contacts in Bogotá to have bedding delivered for the three bedrooms so when they return the beds will be there, but they will need to get the rest.”
“Eddie, you like this, don't you?”
“Sí,” he said. “I didn't get to do this for Yunior or Andres or even myself, for that matter. I lived here and went to Uni. I attended class during the day and worked the fields in the afternoon, falling asleep in my bed trying to study and write research papers. I also had to contend with a crazy ass wife who liked to party with my brother. The life I wanted for my sons, he is going to get to live.”
“Will there be pushback from the cartel?”
“How could they? Micah is providing service to the countries, he is marrying a girl from Argentina, and he shall be attending college in our own country,” Eduardo countered.
“Again, he is outflanking them because he knows all the rules.
He met with each young woman, showed them how they were unevenly matched, and pointed out the imbalance.
He's so much smarter than any of them give him credit for, especially Eleon.”
“Ten toes down as the kids say,” Ryanne chuckled.
“Yeah, I'm thinking about getting ten toes down in your love,” he said with a wink. “We can get started on some freaky shit before we go to sleep.”
“Some freaky shit?”
“Hell yeah,” he said, removing his shirt. “It shall be, how do you say, ah, si, hell a fun.”
“Listen here, Sir,” she said, pulling her gown over her head and sliding back on the bed. “You’d better be careful and watch out for that hip.”
“Ain't a damned thing wrong with my hips,” he said, laughing as he slid into the bed beside her. “You need to be worried about the damage I'm going to do to yours.”